Sacramento Mayor-elect Kevin Johnson is planning a big inauguration party Tuesday night at the Memorial Auditorium. But Johnson will have to wait an extra week to take office.

November 25th is Inauguration Day – for city council members Sandy Sheedy, Rob Fong, Kevin McCarty and Bonnie Pannell. It would’ve been Kevin Johnson’s day too, except the election results haven’t been certified yet. City Clerk Shirley Concolino:

Concolino: “The certification of the records will not be done – or the election will not be done – until after November 25. So that means, the county tells me, that by December 2nd, which is a week later, they’ll be ready to be certified.”

So Concolino says the current mayor, Heather Fargo, will remain in office an extra week until Johnson can be sworn in. But since Johnson’s transition team had already started planning Tuesday’s 2,000-person celebration at Memorial Auditorium, the mayor-elect says the event will go on as planned.

Johnson: “We were told there was limited seating in City Hall, in the chambers, and there were too many people who wanted to participate. So for me, it was an opportunity to talk directly to the community, and we’re gonna do that.”

It’s free to get in, Johnson says – just bring a can of food to donate. And even though he won’t take office Tuesday, he still hopes to name his staff by then. In the meantime, Johnson continues his transition work – which on Thursday included a breakfast meeting with mayors of 13 nearby cities.